The Welkening: A Three Dimensional Tale

Gregory Spencer

Jun 2010 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A fantasy novel in an alternate world.

Lizbeth, Bennu, Len, and Angie are misfits, and they know it. They are often overlooked and ostracized for being overweight, short, airheaded, or wearing coke-bottle glasses. When bullies inflict a wound to Len's head, the four friends find themselves suddenly thrust into an alternative dimension—the realm of Welken, an idyllic kingdom under attack by Morphane the Soul Swallower. The noble defender Piers urges the four to aid his beleaguered land. But their insecurities hold them back until several mysterious adventures reveal that the weaknesses so disdained in their own world are weapons of great power in Welken. Victory is far from certain, however, as the enemy resorts to shape-shifting and deception, finally storming the Welkeners with an army of slaves. Unless the misfits find the courage to wield their weapons and turn the battle, Welken will fall into the death grip of Morphane.

Ratings and reviews

Eighteen-year-old Len Bartholomew, and his younger sister Angie who will be a sophomore, live in Skinner, OR, with their parents. Though he has already graduated from high school, Len is quite short and small for his age. Angie fell when she was a child, hit her head, and is now a very dreamy, even spacey, girl who says all kinds of odd things. Their mother, Charlotte, is an English teacher who is writing a book using their ginger cat Percy as the model for a cat detective named Percival P. Perkins III. Len’s best friend is Bennu Neferti, a senior who has a long, hooked nose, wears thick, heavy glasses, and enjoys poetry. Bennu’s sister Elizabeth, a friend of Angie’s, is noticeably overweight and is often called an ox or bull. The Nefertis are Coptic Christians whose family had emigrated from Egypt. All four kids have been teased often and call themselves “The Commiseration of Misfits.” Their chief antagonists are the Mink brothers, known as the MacKenzie Butte boys. One day, a short while after summer vacation had begun, the Misfits canoe down the Lewis River to see the abandoned Peterson Farm homestead. While investigating, they are attacked by the MacKenzie Butte boys, but just as Len receives a blow from a rock thrown at his head, the four are transported to an alternative dimension known as Welken where they meet such interesting characters as Piers, Prester John, Sutton Hoo, Mook of the Nezzer clan, Vida Bering Well, and other Welkeners. But it is a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire. Welken is enmeshed in the struggle against a hungry evil beast called Morphane that devours the very souls of people. Will the Misfits discover their place in this strange world? Can they survive the scourge of Welken? And how will they return to their own time and place? I first saw this book in a mall bookstore while visiting St. Joseph, MO, shortly after it was published. It looked good, and I know that Howard Publishing Co. has a reputation for acceptable books, but I did not purchase it then. However, last year, when ordering some curricula from Mott Media’s Homeschooling Book Club, I noticed it in their catalogue marked sixty percent off, so I bought it. As to language, there are a few common euphemisms and some childish slang references to dogs and birds peeing, a poop-loving bug, crap, and the criminal Mrs. Bartholomew’s book in ended up having “exposed his entire bum.” Len is said to have “let loose with a few expletives he hoped were not heard by his mom,” but no actual expletives are used. And the MacKenzie Butte boys’ mother is said to be smoking a cigarette, and they are out to buy beer for their dad. The story is called three-dimensional—there are what is going on in the “real world,” what is going on in Welken, and what is going on in Charlotte Bartholomew’s book about Percival Perkins and his basset hound friend Bones Malone. Events in all three are related in various ways, and some people have apparently found this a little confusion. I had no problem following the action, but one thing I did notice that in some places the story seemed to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on a little. However, it is a very interesting, and in places exciting, fantasy type tale in which the four young people learn some very important lessons about themselves and about life. There might even be some allegory underlying the plot. I found it enjoyable. There is a sequel, Guardian of the Veil (2007).

About the author

Dr. Gregory Spencer is professor of communication studies at Westmont College in Southern California. He specializes in rhetorical theory and criticism, religious rhetoric, and media ethics. Dr. Spencer’s teaching has been noted for its creativity.